


That Logic is Screwed Up

by thedreamchaser



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 00 line centric, M/M, big yikes @ a certain pair, dating troubles, dumb logic, scheming dumbasses hyunlix, seungsung are angels, teen angst??, we love seungsung
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-09-11 23:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16861816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedreamchaser/pseuds/thedreamchaser
Summary: "What I’m saying is, it’s a lot of effort to try and hate someone when you really still love them."-Jisung and Seungmin had spent years crushing on their friends, with absolutely no desire to do anything about it. Unfortunately for them, their crushes found out.





	1. The Pining Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alrighty guys, here's a new chaptered fic with short (around 1000 word) chapters
> 
> hope you guys enjoy this one!

Seungmin sat under the drooping tree, sighing as the leaves brushed against his neck, almost comfortingly.  

 _Wow Seungmin it's just a tree. At least find a companion that can talk to you._  

He rolled his eyes at himself and pulled out his phone to tell Jisung to hurry up. Every once in a while, they spent their lunch break on the field, rather than between the art and science block they usually sat at. It was a nice change from being stuck in a cold, skinny hallway that looked like it could be a nesting ground for bats. Except they did have to be aware of the occasional (but very real threat) of territorial birds that were almost the size of Jisung. They had learnt their lesson from the time Seungmin’s sandwich had been snatched right out his hands, leaving nothing but a small cut from where the birds’ beak had nipped his skin. Never again would they go to the south-east corner of the field, instead staying towards the front. This way they could laugh at the people who got smacked in the face by flying soccer balls. That was another plus, they were close to where their friends would play soccer. Neither of them joined in, of course, because soccer (and sports in general) were not their thing.  

"Seungmin-ah!" A low voice called.  

A mop of light brown hair suddenly appeared in front of him, making him jump back a bit but he was already pressed against the tree trunk, so he just gave himself a slight concussion.  

Seungmin groaned, glaring up at Felix. The sight in front of him was quite literally blinding; the boy was standing in the perfect angle to have sun rays radiating outwards from his body, as if he himself was the sun.  _He's close enough_ , Seungmin thought to himself.  

"Wait, shh." Seungmin waved his hands at him, pulling out his phone to take a few pictures of Felix in the golden light. He showed Felix the photos, and the slightly older boy began gushing at how good Seungmin was at taking photos, even though all he really did was press a button.  

Felix sat down beside him. "So, I was thinking, Jisung is your best friend, Hyunjin is my best friend, you and I are friends, you and Hyunjin are friends, Jisung and I are friends, so why aren't Hyunjin and Jisung friends?" 

Despite the confusing observations, Seungmin knew exactly what he was talking about. Hyunjin and Jisung weren't exactly fond of each other. Most of it was Jisung’s fault, if he was being honest. Jisung had a crush, a  _really dumb stupid idiotic one_  is what he called it, and he thought that if maybe he and Hyunjin had a bad relationship, it would go away. It didn’t, not yet anyway. So maybe his logic was flawed, but Jisung was insistent on keeping up the act until the only thing he felt for Hwang Hyunjin was solid, platonic, best friend love. Like he had for Seungmin.  

 

It was a habit for Jisung to be listening to music. He did it anywhere he could. Even in his history class when his teacher, Mr. Yook, would let him. Seungmin called it a perk of being the best history student, but really Mr. Yook was as much of a kid as the ones he taught.  

Too caught up in the new song he’d found yesterday, made by a SoundCloud trio called 3RACHA, he made his way to where Seungmin was waiting. He barely realised he’d made it onto the field until an arm threw itself over his shoulders.  

“You know, for a musician, you’re really fucking tone deaf.” 

Jisung could recognise that voice anywhere. Hwang Hyunjin.  

Jisung laughed sarcastically, turning his back to the taller boy, instead facing Seungmin. “Help me before I kill him.” He mouthed.  

Seungmin just smiled brightly, too caught up in Felix, who was sitting close to him.  

Traitor. 

Felix was looking exceptionally handsome with his honey-coloured hair swept over his forehead. It may have been the sun (or the fact that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast), but Seungmin swore there was hints of pink in there. Either way, he was too distracted by the way Felix had his lower lip caught between his teeth as Seungmin showed him some of the pictures he had taken of an old tree.  

“You’re seriously talented, Seungmin! Really!” Felix exclaimed, shaking Seungmin by the shoulder.  

He cleared his throat, though it didn’t help his voice cracking from nervousness. “T-thanks.”  

Dammit Seungmin, be normal. It was bad enough that Seungmin thought he was possibly the prettiest boy ever, but he just had to have the sweetest personality as well.  

“Lix, let’s go. They’re getting their asses handed to them without you.” Hyunjin snorted, watching the game.  

Seungmin waved at the two as they left to join their soccer game.  

“I seriously hate that guy. Condescending idiot.” Jisung mumbled, glaring at Hyunjin, who was currently dribbling the ball down the field.  

A loud cheer erupted from the group of boys as he scored a goal, Hyunjin turning back to where Jisung and Seungmin were sitting and saluting at them. Jisung scowled, pretending to salute back but instead flipping him off. Hyunjin just laughed in return, a grin spread over his face, and though he was too far away to be heard, Jisung could hear his annoying laugh, though it may have been his imagination.  

Why him? Of all people, why the annoyingly good-looking, annoyingly smart, annoyingly annoying Hwang Hyunjin?  

“Hyunjin is nice. He just likes to annoy you.” Seungmin rolled his eyes.  

“Yeah, that’s asshole behaviour!”  

“No, it’s flirty banter.”  

Seungmin knew it when he saw it. And having been friends with Jisung for so long, and seeing how he interacted with Hyunjin almost every day for six years, he had seen it a lot. Hyunjin, of course, always responded in ways he knew would irk Jisung, always smiling and complimenting him, though he himself was being mildly insulted, and poking Jisung’s cheek. At those times, Jisung found himself liking Hyunjin a bit more, and consequently, hating himself and Hyunjin a bit more.  

Jisung sputtered a bit. “Never say that again.”  

As much as Jisung wanted to deny it, Hyunjin was overly ‘friendly’ towards him, which was how people referred to Hyunjin’s constant flirting. He had always been a kind boy, but Jisung was no fool. he had noticed how Hyunjin smiled a little wider and laughed harder during their very normal, very not-annoying conversations. Jisung hated it, but maybe, he loved it.  

 

[|visual|](https://twitter.com/dreaminists/status/1070928839293906944?s=21)  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be a more light-hearted high school fic but uhhh of course there's angst because how can I not do that
> 
> anyways i'm still not sure how this is going to turn out.. I don't want it to be an 'everyone is happy in the end, everything turned out perfectly' kind of thing, so of course I'm throwing in some bumps along the way.. it does make for an exciting and realistic story!
> 
> let me know what you thought so far!


	2. The Pining Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In elementary school, everyone was friends with everyone. Maybe that was the only reason they had become friends with the other two in the first place.

For the past six years, Jisung and Seungmin had been best friends, after they’d been assigned to separate the more talkative kids. The teacher had picked the two quietest kids, Seungmin and Jisung, to sit between the very talkative Felix and Hyunjin. Unfortunately for the two who rarely spoke to anyone, Hyunjin and Felix were constantly making conversation, forcing them to talk back out of politeness in Seungmin’s case and irritation in Jisung’s case. It was a bit of a mess, Seungmin and Jisung mostly talked to each other, while Hyunjin and Felix would swing onto the back legs of their chair, or lean forward on the desk to talk. Either way, the two quieter boys were forced to listen in on their conversations.  

As Hyunjin and Felix had grown, they had become more and more good-looking. They had both been cute in elementary school, but now, close to the age of eighteen, they had become less boyishly cute and more broad-shouldered and defined bodied handsome.  

In elementary school, everyone was friends with everyone. Maybe that was the only reason they had become friends with the other two in the first place. However, now that they had grown up, Hyunjin and Felix had become what the masses would call ‘popular’, while Seungmin and Jisung stayed in the more general ‘normal’ crowd.  

As the hype of the soccer game died down, people left to join their respective groups. When Seungmin and Jisung were on the field, the two others would take a break from their overwhelming group of friends to sit with the boys under a tree.  

“I might go to the tuck shop, uh, cafeteria to grab a drink. You want anything Jinnie?” Felix brushed his hair back from his face.  

Hyunjin handed him some money, and without saying anything, Felix understood what he wanted and nodded. After all, it was the only thing he’d ever bought from the cafeteria.  

“I’ll come too,” Seungmin rummaged around in his pocket to find the crumpled bill he thought was there. Shit. “One second.” He patted around the dead leaves, hoping he hadn’t dropped the money elsewhere. 

“Please don’t leave me with Jisung. He scares me.” Hyunjin whispered the last part, eyes flickering to Jisung, who was frowning at his phone.  

“It’s fine. He just shows his affection weirdly.” Seungmin waved his hand at the taller boy.  

Hyunjin huffed and slumped onto the trunk of the tree, clearly accepting his fate. 

Seungmin smiled in response, moving to the other side of the tree to check the ground, only to then have his arm tugged on by Jisung. 

“Um, ow?” He frowned, glancing to a frowning Jisung.  

“Don’t leave me! He’s my nemesis.” 

“No he’s not. He’s your crush.” Seungmin sang the last bit, making Jisung widen his eyes.  

“Fuck you!” He punched Seungmin, pushing him away as he giggled.  

However, the smile quickly fell off Seungmin’s face as he realised he’d definitely lost the money.  

Felix, at the sight of the boy’s pout, placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’ll cover it. Don’t worry.”  

Felix was not only sweet, but extremely stubborn too, and even more so when he was stubborn about being sweet. Seungmin wanted to argue but he knew lunch would end soon and he would ruin Felix’s chances of getting that drink and whatever Hyunjin wanted.  

He followed Felix to the overcrowded, noisy area that most people sat at. It was probably his least favourite part of the school, because of how messy and chaotic the place was.  

“That’s it?” Felix laughed, taking the lollipop that Seungmin held out to him.  

He nodded, because, really, he didn’t want anything in the first place. Out of sheer politeness, and a bit of greed to be able to talk to Felix without sweltering under Hyunjin’s intense and admittedly pretty eyes, Seungmin had offered to accompany him. 

The walk wasn’t all that long, but it was enough to get past the slightly awkward small talk.  

When they had gotten back onto the field, they could see Hyunjin and Jisung’s far away figures had moved closer together. Well, Hyunjin had at least. Jisung was probably doing his best to ignore him, or insult him endlessly. Both would leave a rather strong impression on Hyunjin.  

“So, uh, what’s your deal with me?” 

“You’re annoying.” Jisung answered bluntly.  

“Only because you annoy me too. If you want me to stop being annoying, I will.” Hyunjin pouted a bit.  

Jisung didn’t answer.  

A small smile spread over Hyunjin’s lips. “You like that I’m annoying! Of course you do! We’re Hyunjin and Jisung. We’re known for our witty banter.” 

Jisung choked at the word banter, as Seungmin had previously said it was the flirty kind.  

It seemed to make Hyunjin happy though, as he now had a grin on his face. “Ok, I’ll keep annoying you, then our fun dynamic doesn’t have to change.” 

Jisung was about to protest when Seungmin and Felix returned. 

“I didn’t realise it was a fucking pilgrimage.” Hyunjin rolled his eyes, leaning back against the tree trunk.  

Jisung huffed a bit, his way of laughing in slight appreciation for Hyunjin’s humour.  

Felix rolled his eyes, throwing the bag of candy at Hyunjin. “Ten minutes, Seungmin. Ten minutes we’re gone for and they’ve abandoned their loyalty to gang up on us.”  

The two older boys fell into giggles, while Seungmin and Felix shook their heads, laughing.  

Hyunjin tore open the bag and offered it to Jisung, who hummed and shoved a few in his mouth, without the usual scowl or questioning the possibility that Hyunjin may have poisoned them.  

“These are my favourite,” Jisung mumbled, cheek bumpily filled with the small candies.  

He didn’t miss the way Seungmin grinned at him, eyes a bit more sparkly than usual, before unwrapping his lollipop. He did, however, miss the fact that Hyunjin too was grinning at him, probably because he was too scared to look directly at Hyunjin.  

“Min,” Felix’s voice broke Seungmin’s train of thought. “Can you send me those pictures you took last week?” 

Huh, Seungmin had almost forgotten he’d had a few mini Felix’s living in his phone.  

“Yeah, I’ll do it now!” He scanned over the pictures he had taken, sending the best ones to Felix.  

Just a minute later, he got a notification on his phone.  

leelix _: thanks for capturing my non-existent beauty @kimminnie_  

Seungmin bit his lip in thought, wondering how to reply.  

kimminnie _: I’m your biggest fan I’ll follow you until you love me_

No, that was  _too_ creepy. He backspaced, typing something that didn’t give away the fact that he had the hugest crush on him. He hoped.

kimminnie _: the camera can only capture what’s really there @leelix_

A bit of panic flooded through him. Surely Felix would get that it was a joke. Seungmin was just playing along. That was fine, right?  

Felix’s laughter rang through his ears, and Seungmin looked up to the older boy to find a wide smile on his face.  

This was fine.  

Felix glanced at him, a sarcastic yet bashful tone taking over. “You’re already on my good side, Seungmin. No need to flatter.” He threw a quick wink at Seungmin, and Seungmin was sure the world just about stopped spinning at that moment to allow him to look at Felix for a little bit longer.  

Both choir bells and warning bells simultaneously went off in Seungmin’s head. His heart skipped a little, his jaw slackened, his breath caught in his throat. 

This was not fine. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,, seungmin and jisung are WHIPPED 
> 
> hopefully I can update every 5 (or so) days with around 1000+ word chapters
> 
> thanks for reading!


	3. The Pining Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was kind of cute. Whatever. Jisung could get over it.

He didn’t know what it was, but Seungmin had a thing for trees. Every kind fascinated him. The leaves, how they differed in shape, colour, thicknesses and waxiness. The trunk, it’s roughness and texture, thickness and hollowness, the colour of the bark, the way the roots looked. Whether they flowered and fruited, whether they carried a scent, whether they had many branches, whether they attracted wildlife. It was all interesting to him.  

His favourite tree was the one at the park near his school. It was a huge Willow, big enough to comfortably cover Seungmin and Jisung lying on their backs, spread out like starfish and surrounded by a few plastic bags of food.  

It was a shame he didn’t get the chance to go there often because he usually only left the house for school. Meeting up with Jisung outside of school was another hassle in itself, involving way too much anxiety and pleading to his parents to make it a regular thing.  

It was fine though, Jisung had enough to keep him busy. He spent his days holed up in his room, one of three ways. Either hunched over a guitar, hunched over a notebook, or any random piece of paper really, or hunched over a laptop. His hobby included a lot of being hunched over something, but he loved it nonetheless.  

Since they both had things to keep them occupied, it wasn’t really a big deal that they didn’t see each other as much as other kids their age. Definitely not as much as Felix and Hyunjin, who seemed to do almost everything together.  

While reminiscing on his past photography ventures, Seungmin just so happened to stumble upon the pictures he had taken of Felix standing in front of the sun. That had been almost two weeks ago. He was glowing, probably from sweat, but he was glowing nonetheless.  

Seungmin cringed as he realized he’d spent a solid five minutes looking, or rather, staring, at the pictures of Felix.  _Yikes_ , he was a bit of a creep. He shook his head at himself, exiting the app to instead check the message Jisung had just sent him.  

 _sung: hey so we should go to that new café that opened, it looks really good!_  

 _seung_ _: sure, when?_  

 _sung:_ _next_ _sunday_ _? since you need 128393 business days of notice_  

 _Ah_ , Seungmin thought to himself with a smile,  _he knows me so well._  

“What are you smiling at?” His sister poked her head over his shoulder.  

“Nothing,” he stood up properly, no longer leaning on the kitchen counter, making her stumble back a bit.  

“Is it your girlfriend?” 

He almost laughed at that, because getting a girlfriend was the absolute last thing on his mind.  “I don’t have a girlfriend!”  

She scoffed lightly, pushing his forehead with her index finger. “Don’t lie. That’s an in-love smile.” 

Seungmin stuttered for a few seconds. His sister was a whole other level of irritating. “I’m taking to Jisung, you moron!” 

“Oh,” she laughed a bit, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, “never mind then.” 

 _sung: don’t leave me on read you moron_  

Seungmin smiled a bit. The older boy certainly had been picking up on Seungmin’s catchwords.  

 _seung_ _: it’s a done deal dude_  

In the back of his head, he wondered how long it would take before Jisung was using that phrase too. Just hours probably.  

 

Seungmin watched Felix return from the short soccer game, in all of his glowing, sweaty glory. He struggled to get out his next sentence when Felix ran a hand through his golden hair, cheeks reddening a bit as Hyunjin threw him a strange glance.  

“Are you gonna go pro one day?” 

Jisung lifted his head a bit. “GoPro?” 

Seungmin ignored him, still watching Felix.  

Felix smiled lightly, kicking the pile of leaves. “I’m meeting with a few scouts at the next game. If all goes well, I could have a place in a real league.” 

“You’re kidding! That’s great!”  

“We should come to your game,” Jisung said through his food. “We’ll cheer you on!” 

Seungmin’s eyes lit up at that. “That’ll be so much fun!” 

“It’s just a school game, Seungmin. No big deal.” Felix laughed. “Plus, I don’t know... I might be nervous about playing in front of you guys. I’m not used to it.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jisung asked, sounding mildly offended. To be fair, he did usually go to the games.  

“Ok, I’m not used to playing in front of Seungmin.” He admitted, eyes looking anywhere but at the boy he was talking about.  

 _Oh_ , Seungmin faltered,  _he won’t be able to play in front of me. H_ _e doesn’t want me there_ _-_  

“Please, he’d cheer for you even if you scored for the other team.” Seungmin jumped a bit, forgetting the long-legged boy was beside him. The eldest smiled at him sweetly, before flickering his eyes back up to Felix. “Besides, I’ll keep them in line.”  

“What? Why? Aren’t you playing?” Jisung tilted his head a bit, a piece of lettuce hanging out of his mouth.  

It was kind of endearing, how careless he could be, Hyunjin thought. He smiled at the boy.  

“Jisung..” Seungmin shook his head, glancing down to Hyunjin’s leg. His knee was taped with bright green and pink strapping tape. Well, that was what happened when you let one Yang Jeongin choose colours.  

“What the hell..” Jisung stared at it, brows furrowed. “I must be blind.” 

“Or an idiot,” Hyunjin smirked as the younger scowled at him, concern leaving his face.  

The youngest of the four reached out to poke his knee but then decided against it, retracting his hand. “What happened?”  

“Don’t know, don’t really care. I just want it to get better. I want to run, Seungmin. I want to jump. I want to fly!” Hyunjin took him by the shoulder, shaking him around. His teeth chattered, and he couldn’t help but laugh at how animated Hyunjin was at times.  

Felix coughed. “It’s been two days.”  

“That’s like... two weeks in dog terms! Speaking of dogs, I can’t go for runs with Kkami.” He wailed, flopping onto his back with a sigh. “I’m telling you, this will ruin our relationship. Once Kkami starts actually  _liking_ Jeongin, that little idiot, I’m done for. By little idiot, I mean Jeongin, of course. Kkami is nothing short of an angel.”  

He didn’t notice it, but Jisung had a smile on his face as he pretended to not be listening to Hyunjin rant about how much he loved his dog. It was a good five minutes, though Jisung did think that the time went pretty fast when Hyunjin was talking with wide eyes and an even wider smile.  

He was kind of cute. Whatever. Jisung could get over it. It’s just a crush, and he’s gotten over plenty of those. This was nothing different. 

"Yo, Jisung! Check out this out." Hyunjin scooted up next to him and leant in, his hair brushing up against Jisung's ear. Jisung sucked in a small breath, eyes trailing over to Hyunjin's phone. As he expected, it was a picture of Kkami. When he didn't respond, Hyunjin looked up with that stupid smile, and Jisung definitely didn't die right there. 

Nothing different at all. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry I'm late with this chapter but my mind was just... preoccupied. It didn't feel right to publish yesterday or the day before. I could barely bring myself to write a couple of hundred words because I couldn't stop thinking about him. Anyways, I don't want to use excuses but I hope you understand. 
> 
> let me know what you thought!
> 
> thank you guys so so much for reading, it really makes me happy :)


	4. The Game Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That had been just over two years ago and things that not changed. In fact, the crushes had only gotten stronger. There was still hope, right?

It was too hot to play soccer today, the two boys decided, and instead relaxed against the same tree they came to with Seungmin and Jisung. It felt emptier without them there, understandably because they went from four to two, and Hyunjin couldn’t help his mind slipping over to the two boys.  

They were a little too  _something_. Seungmin was a little too nice, Jisung was a little too stand-offish. That was how they were when they were around Felix and himself. However, around other people, they were completely normal, not too nice, not too stand-offish, and Hyunjin had always wondered what that meant.  

 _Do they not like us? Are they trying to tell us they don’t want to be friends with us? Is that_ _Seungmin’s_ _defence technique? Being nice? Strange but it makes sense._ _Jisung’s_ _makes sense too. But why only us? What did we ever do? Is it because we never shut up in sixth grade? It must be. I bet they hated us for talking so much back then. We still talk that much though. Yeah, they hate us. But they willingly come down here and hang out with us. My head hurts. Do they like us or not? Do they like us? Oh._  

Anyone could see they could see that they had crushes, but Hyunjin, the oblivious boy he was, had only just now considered that aspect. Funnily enough, it all made sense.  

 _They like us._  

“I think Seungmin likes you,” Hyunjin blurted.  

Felix raised an eyebrow at the sudden confession. “Yeah, and Jisung likes you.” 

“No way. Jisung literally could not give a shit about me.”  

“It’s a front, you idiot. You know? Reverse psychology?”  

Hyunjin gaped, his eyes widening comically. “So he really does like me?”  

Felix nodded, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing ever, which it kind of was. Well, not for Hyunjin, apparently.   

“And they’re obviously too scared to do anything about it. Felix?” Hyunjin sighed, the younger boy looking up innocently. “Go out with me.” 

Felix choked on his water, Hyunjin patting his back gently until he caught his breath. “What?”  

 _Great plan_ , Hyunjin thought to himself, but he didn’t falter. “Maybe this way we can get a confession out of them. I usually hate the jealousy trope, but I’m so damn curious to see what’s going to happen.”  

The other boy was silent for a minute, confirming Hyunjin’s thoughts that he had just schemed up the worst plan ever. Then he smiled rather mischievously. “Actually, it’s kind of perfect. That way we can figure out if they really do like us.”  

Well then. He wasn’t expecting Felix to be so on board with his plan so quickly, but he wasn’t going to complain.  

“My little mastermind.” Hyunjin cooed, pinching the smaller boy’s cheeks. “That’s how I should act, right?”  

Felix grimaced a bit, leaning away from Hyunjin. “Maybe tone it down a bit.”  

The bell rang, making Hyunjin jump to his feet. It was time.  

“Guess what we have now?” He grinned, pulling Felix up with him.  

The younger boy looked down to their joint hands wearily. “History...” 

Hyunjin’s smiled faltered a bit. “Damn, now would’ve been a great time to have Chemistry.”  

Felix sighed gravely. “It’s never a great time for Chemistry.” 

“What I mean is,” Hyunjin waved his hand in the air for no apparent reason. He hadn’t let go of Felix’s hand, so the younger boy’s arm was being swung around, pulling him forward slightly. “do you know who’s in the class?” 

Felix thought for a second before something along the lines of an evil smile took over his features.  

As expected, Seungmin and Jisung were the first to be waiting at the classroom. Unfortunately for the new couple, the boys were too preoccupied with their project to even look at them other two.  

“This is a bust.”  

Hyunjin patted the boys’ shoulder consolingly. “No worries, bud- uh, babe. You’ve got a game today, remember?”  

 

The first time Jisung had spoken of his crush, he had practically spat it out. He was nervousness about admitting it, though he had tried to convince himself that it was no big thing. He had joined Seungmin in their usual lunch spot with a topic of conversation. A  _bonding exercise_ , Jisung has called it, but he really just wanted to rant and freak out and not have to hide it anymore. Though, he did have a feeling that Seungmin already knew. Seungmin, as it turned out, also had a crush of similar circumstances, though his crush didn’t bother the absolute hell out of him like Jisung’s. He also didn’t try to get rid of it like Jisung did.  

That had been just over two years ago and things that not changed. In fact, the crushes had only gotten stronger. There was still hope, right?  

Jisung was brought out of his daze by something moving in his peripheral vision. It was Hyunjin waving at him, a bit too wildly really, arms narrowly missing the metal handrails he was leaning against. Jisung smiled back, though it was probably something more along the lines of a grimace. He could tell because Hyunjin’s face turned from a friendly smile to an amused one, the kind that was very close to being a smirk.  

Strangely enough, he had no burning urge to punch Hyunjin in the face. Dear God, what was happening to him?  

“Be careful around here.” Hyunjin turned to them, locking eyes with Jisung. “Especially you. You’re tiny and easier to push over. People are crazy. Front row seats are a big deal.”  

The boys followed Hyunjin, who was limping slightly, up the seats of the sports stadium.  

“I am not tiny? Am I?” Jisung frowned, ignoring the boy in front’s soft chuckle.  

Seungmin smiled. “A bit.”  

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “People really get pushed around here?” 

Hyunjin just nodded.  

“That’s screwed up, man.” Jisung frowned as his eyes scanned over the relatively empty stands. Surely the place wouldn’t get that packed. The school wasn’t even that big.  

To his dismay, he was wrong, and he had ended up squished next to some kid from two years below him. He was sweaty and loud and Jisung was not having such a good time until he glanced over to see Seungmin and Hyunjin laughing and flicking raisins at each other. The two had sat on either side of Hyunjin to prevent the pushy teens from bumping into him, which Jisung now knew was a very common occurrence. Raisins because Hyunjin didn’t like them and would get in trouble for not eating them, so they devised a plan to use them up. It was rather wasteful, but Seungmin ate the ones he caught, if that helped.  

“Oh, finally!” Jisung sighed as the players came onto the field.  

Now the real game would start.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I don't really like this chapter, it felt like a filler even though the 'plan' starts here.. idk I'm just not very happy with it but it's the best I can do 
> 
> sorry this update took so long, I just couldn't write this chapter for some reason. it's really frustrating because I have a lot of the future chapter written but got stuck here :( 
> 
> anyways I hope you're all taking care of yourselves and enjoying the new year so far!


	5. The Game Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything that Jisung had observed up until that moment suddenly came to mind and honestly, it made sense.

It started off as any soccer game would. The dull roar of the crowd, the combination of grass, dirt and sweat wafting over, the odd sultana hitting him in the face every now and then. Overall, it was going good, Seungmin thought, for the first real soccer game he had ever watched. The best part of all, obviously, was getting to watch Felix in his prime. Agile, that’s what he was. The way he moved on his feet, dodging the other team while keeping the ball close to him.  

 _Incredible_ , Seungmin thought to himself.  

He should try to come to games more often, that way he could support his friends. Plus, he could stare at Felix the whole time and no one would say anything to him. It wasn’t like he did that normally... not at all.  

The game came to an end quicker than expected, maybe because he was enjoying himself. Plus, he had never actually paid attention to how long a soccer game was, so there was that. The crowd cheered suddenly and Seungmin jumped to his feet, cheering wildly. The team had scored a goal with just 10 seconds left in the clock. It was the perfect end to a great game, Seungmin thought, still whooping so loudly that Jisung covered his ears jokingly. 

“He’s gonna lose his voice,” Hyunjin laughed, looking up at him.  

Jisung rolled his eyes. “Yeah.” He held out his hand for Hyunjin, hoping it wasn’t too sweaty, but then again, it was a hot afternoon so he couldn’t really help it.  

Hyunjin took his hand, standing up wobbly. His hand mustn’t have been too sweaty because Hyunjin smiled back at him, before turning his attention to the game.  

 _God_ , Jisung thought,  _why is his hand so soft?_  

After a while, the crowd started to clear out and the three of them were able to make it down to where the field and the stand connected. Felix ran up to the gate between them, a huge smile on his face.  

“Nice game.” Hyunjin winked at him subtly, hoping he would understand.  

The younger boy raised his eyebrow. “In front of all these people?”  

“If you wanna sell it,” Hyunjin shrugged, eyes trailing over as Seungmin and Jisung approached them.  

The latter eyed Hyunjin’s knee warily. “I thought you weren’t supposed to run.”  

“Well, I, uh,” Hyunjin coughed, “had to congratulate my- Felix.”  

 _My boyfriend_  is what he was trying to say, but he couldn’t quite get it out.  

“Yeah, uh, I guess,” Seungmin shrugged, turning to said boy. “Great game, Felix. Really, I mean I’ve never actually watched a soccer game, but this was already the best one-” He stopped when Jisung nudged his arm lightly. Dammit, why was he such a rambler? 

“Oh, I hope not.” Felix scratched his head with a chuckle. “I was talking to a scout and they want me to train more and see how much I can improve. It’s gonna be...”  

“Awesome. It’ll be awesome.” Hyunjin threw an arm around his shoulder, making the smaller boy laugh.  

“Yeah, only because you’ll be watching me suffer.” 

“Hey!” Hyunjin retorted, dramatically scoffing. “I was going to offer to train with you, but, if you don’t want me around...” 

“No! Don’t leave me!” Felix clung to his arm, pouting up at him.  

“Yeah yeah.” The taller rolled his eyes, suddenly remembering the two other boys standing not so far away from them. “Hey, why don’t we go get something to eat? My little soccer star needs some fuel.” 

Jisung shrugged. “Yeah, let’s go.”  

Seungmin broke a sweat at that moment. “Hold on, just give me one minute. I better ask my parents, you know? I mean, it should be fine, it’s a Friday and I’m already out so...” 

With a deadline of one hour before Seungmin was picked up, the boys decided on the nearest decent café. Felix and Hyunjin came later, since Felix had to wash the sweat and dirt off of himself. Not more than ten minutes later, they spotted the two on the other side of the street.  

They were walking close, bumping shoulders and nudging each other playfully. It was nice to see friends that close, Seungmin thought. It was nice that they weren’t completely against touching each other, the same way other guys their age were. Other guys were very much into showing how macho and manly they were to the girls, despite the girls’ disinterest. It was pathetic and equally as funny.  

After ordering, they settled down, urging Felix to talk more about the scouts he had spoken to. And he did, spilling all the details of the scholarships and training on offer to him with those hand gestures that made Seungmin smile widely. His voice rose in pitch when he was excited, that's what made Jisung smile, hearing him with an unusually high voice. 

“Oh, actually, we wanted to tell you guys something.” Hyunjin’s hands tightened around something under the table, probably each other.  

Felix sipped his coffee, ignoring the way his hand shook slightly with nervousness as he brushed his hair out of his face. “We’re dating.”  

This was not what Seungmin was expecting. Something, he thought, would be something like a new ice cream flavour at the cinemas or a sale on a pair of shoes he really liked. Not that they were dating.  _Oh_ , he thought to himself. He did remember Hyunjin calling Felix my little soccer star, and yeah, he did think it was strange at that moment, but he was distracted by the fact he had to call his parents.  _Damn it,_ _Seungmin_ _._ So, all of what he thought was platonic friendliness, was actually flirting? Gee, he needed to step up his game with that stuff. Hyunjin was probably holding Felix’s hand right now. The thought made his breath hitch slightly.  

“You’re dating... each other.” 

Everything that Jisung had observed up until that moment suddenly came to mind and honestly, it made sense. They were extremely close, they had so much in common, and sometimes they had gone as far as to say they were soul mates. The label didn’t strike Jisung as strange because, well, Felix was Australian and he was always saying mate in the context of a friend. So now he was just really confused which context he had meant it in. That didn’t really matter right now, he realised. He just wanted to know how long they had thought of each other like that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so.... I wanna say sorry I took so long to upload but honestly why have expectations for me when I'm always late anyway..
> 
> as always, thanks so much for reading <3
> 
> have a good day!


	6. The Agreement Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation unfolding in front of Jisung and Seungmin’s eyes was something they should have expected.

Hyunjin almost choked. He wanted to say it wasn’t real when he saw Seungmin’s eyes flash with something he hadn’t seen before. Something told him it was jealousy, though he had never pinned Seungmin as the kind to get jealous. Honestly, anything but a smile didn’t suit the boy, and Hyunjin felt guilt creeping up on him knowing he was the one who made Seungmin like that.  

 “So, how’s your history project going? Ours is killer, right Seungmin?” Jisung spoke nonchalantly.  

Seungmin wondered how he was so calm when he himself was freaking out on the inside.  

“Oh, yeah, it’s  _so_ killer. The real deal.” He laughed dryly, earning a weird look from Jisung.  

Felix eyes nervously darted between them as he cleared his throat. “Uh, it’s going good?”  

“It’s great. You know who we chose, right? He was a tyrant, I mean-” 

Felix let out a breath of relief as Hyunjin took over, hoping no one else would notice. Jisung, however, did and raised his eyebrow slightly.  

 _Oh god, he’s not buying it-_  

Hyunjin’s hand settled on his thigh as he rambled on about the project, detailed enough to keep Seungmin’s interest, and he felt his body relax at the contact. As long as he had Hyunjin, he could do it.  

Jisung, with fresh eyes, was not missing anything. He didn’t miss the way Felix’s nervousness disappeared with Hyunjin’s touch or the way Seungmin was disassociating himself from the rest of them because he would either burst into tears or run out of there if he kept looking at them. There was still forty-five minutes until Seungmin’s ridiculously early curfew, and there was no way the boy would last that long. He wasn’t sure he would either. He had to get them out of there. A certain promise a friend made to him popped into his mind, and he carefully sent three random letters to the latest person in his messages. A few moments later, his phone buzzed with a call.  

He pretended to fish around for his phone before answering it. “Hello?”  

“What’s the matter?” A soft but slightly annoyed voice replied. 

“What do you mean?” He hushed his voice just enough for the three others to hear. At least those drama classes could come in handy now. 

Minho sighed. “Jisung, really-” 

“It has to be done now? Seungmin and I are both busy.” He silently pleaded for him to play along.  

The line was silent for a second. Jisung could practically hear the older boy’s scheming.  

“Yes, I need it done right now. The family photo shoot for my babies, that is.” Minho’s smug smile was evident even through the phone. 

He scowled internally.  _Well played, Lee Minho._ “Well, how can your photographer just  _cancel_ on you? That’s extremely unprofessional!” Jisung rubbed his forehead for added dramatics. He turned to Seungmin. “I’ll ask him. You’ve really put us on the spot.” 

“Oh, how ever can I repay you?” His sarcasm rang clear. “I do expect a photo shoot for them by the way. Whenever your pal is free.”  

“Ok, I’ll let him know. Bye now.”  

“Bye, idiot. Call me later.”  

Jisung hummed, hanging up with a sigh. “Minho hyung needs some pictures of his cats taken.”

They stared at him blankly.  

“Outdoors. Today. Before the sun goes down. He needs them ASAP for some cat competition. He’s sure they’ll win.” Jisung amazed himself with his ability to come up with pointless white lies. “His photographer cancelled on him last minute.”  

“That is unprofessional!”  Seungmin gasped lightly. 

He was unsure whether Seungmin was playing along or being genuine, but judging by the very real outrage in his eyes, he guessed the latter. While he was still waiting for anything really from Hyunjin and Felix, he slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to go.  

Hyunjin piped up finally. “Why did he leave the shoot so close to the deadline?”  

“What can I say? I tend to have dumb friends.” He lifted his eyes towards the new couple, before shooting Seungmin a quick look that said something along the lines of _hurry up_.  

The oldest of the four blinked as if the comment was directed at him, which maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. The two boys left quickly, their drinks and food sitting there untouched. So, Hyunjin and Felix sat there feeling slightly accomplished, slightly confused, and very stunned at the sudden disappearance of their friends.   

Well, at least they all had the weekend to collect themselves.  

 

Monday’s had never been harder. And that was saying something for Seungmin, who was, more than anything, a morning person. His mind was stuck on one thing, so much so that the weekend had flown by and he found himself arriving at school with no actual memory since that day.  

The situation unfolding in front of Jisung and Seungmin’s eyes was something they should have expected. It should have been obvious really. Lately, Felix and Hyunjin had been much closer than they had before. It was kind of inevitable really, pretty people always ended up with pretty people. And Hyunjin and Felix were not just pretty, but straight up gorgeous, stunning, beautiful. That was something Jisung knew for sure.  

The pair were at Hyunjin's locker, which was not far from Jisung's, unfortunately for him. Airy laughter that was so distinctly _Hyunjin and Felix_ made it's way over to his ears as he shoved his bag into his locker. Among the couples of the school, the two of them certainly stood out. Maybe it was just him, but with the way they looked at each other, shy glances and crinkly eyes, Jisung thought it was just so genuine and that they would really last.  

He tore his eyes away from them, trying his best to smile as he felt Seungmin’s hand on his shoulder.  

“Jisung,” he started, not sure what to say.  

He just shook his head. “No, it’s good. Really. This makes him completely off-limits. I _have_  to get over him now.”  

Seungmin’s heart clenched. So he had to get over Felix too.  

Jisung, as if reading his mind, sent him a sympathetic look. “Min, I know it’s not easy, but just think about it. Did you ever see yourself with him? Were you ever going to really make a move? I honestly don’t think we’ll even last as friends once school is over.”  

Seungmin didn’t say anything and that was enough of an answer.  

“I say we just… focus on us, okay? School, photography, music, hanging out.” 

And just like that, it was decided. As much as Seungmin didn’t want to admit it, feeling a bit like he was betraying the other two, Jisung had a point. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i haven't posted anything in a long long time and i apologise for that. if it's any excuse, the past two months have been nothing short of hellish and probably the worst months of my life and i didn't want to be writing in those conditions. 
> 
> but anyways let me know what you thought, and thank you so so sosososososo soooooo much for reading and getting this over 100 kudos, it means so much to me i'm v emotional about this istg imma cry :(((((


	7. The Agreement Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After they had up and left that Friday afternoon, they had not spoken to the pair, and that was strange.

Hyunjin and Felix were not oblivious, they knew exactly what the other two boys were doing. Avoiding them. Treating them like any other classmate. Not like the close friends they used to be.  

If they were being honest, it did hurt a bit, but then they remembered they brought it on themselves. They made their bed and they had to lie in it. Seeing them walk to class every day without so much as a look in their direction. Watching them eat lunch and laugh to themselves and not bother to look up when someone scored a goal.  

They felt guilty, of course they did. But it wasn’t like they could back out now. They couldn’t just say  _yeah, we dated for a few days, but decided to break it off. We’ll still be best friends though!_ Surely that would raise suspicion.  

So they decided to wait a big longer. 

At least they were getting a reaction from them. That was the whole point, right? 

 

The week dragged on. Jisung and Seungmin had tried their best to stay true to their pact to focus on themselves and each other. Though it was rather hard since everywhere they went, they could almost feel Hyunjin and Felix’s eyes on them. After they had up and left that Friday afternoon, they had not spoken to the pair, and that was strange.  

It wasn’t easy; they were walking a fine line since they wanted to be subtle about it. They didn’t stop going to the tree on the field, because it certainly didn’t belong to the other two, but they had shown up late. By doing this, they thought it would show the pair that they were fine to go on as just the two of them. Except, then they really thought about it. And why were they making such a big deal over the two dating? Well, it was because of their crushes, but it wasn’t as if the other two knew that. If they were going to suddenly stop being friends with the two, it would definitely seem suspicious.  

So when Hyunjin approached Seungmin, who was hauling multiple textbooks to his class and offered to help him, who was he to say no?  

It wasn’t as if Seungmin saying yes was going to mean  _yes! we like you_ or  _yes! I'm happy you guys are dating!_ Someone wanted to stop his back from being stuck in that horrible position by carrying his books.  

Just a classmate helping a classmate out.  

He also didn’t want to have to see Hyunjin sulking if he said no.  

It wasn’t until Felix and Hyunjin, the infamous masters of puppy dog eyes and pouting, respectively, came up to the pair at lunch and asked for their help with the History project, that they rethought their agreement. So maybe avoiding them was not the way to go. Not when they had so many classes together, and definitely not when they had been such close friends before.  

Once agreed, the two boys left to get their books and asked the other two to meet them in the library.  

“Ok, so, that didn’t last,” Jisung laughed awkwardly.  

“At least we tried,” Seungmin pursed his lips, eyeing the locker in front of him. “You need to clean out your locker.”  

It was true; he did need to clean it. He had already been there for a good minute and hadn’t found his history folder yet.  

“Tomorrow I’ll help you sort your stuff out.” 

Jisung grinned, slamming his locker shut. “Done deal.” 

Nervousness built up in their stomachs as they got to the library.  

“Whatever you do, don’t look them in the eyes for too long,” Seungmin whispered as they approached the table.  

“Right, that’s how they get you.”  

Seungmin took to explaining the task to Felix straight away, while Jisung scrolled through his phone. He was starting to rethink their rethinking of the original plan. 

“Hey.” Someone kicked Jisung’s shin under the table. “Hey.”  

“Ow,” he said through clenched teeth, glaring up at Hyunjin, who smiled kindly despite having kicked Jisung just seconds ago.  

“Explain this part to me.” Hyunjin was aware that he sounded demanding, and he was definitely aware of the difference between the way that he and Jisung and Seungmin and Felix interacted. The latter were extremely polite with each other, while he and Jisung, more often than not, were blunt and slipped insults into their conversations. Even with Felix, Jisung smiled a lot and spoke comfortably. Hyunjin brought out a side to Jisung that no one had seen.  

He listened as Jisung broke down the essay question for him, occasionally going off on tangents because he was interested in a particular era or country.  

Luckily for him, Hyunjin found it amusing. 

“Nerd.” 

Jisung stopped talking, giving him a blank look and a huff.  

“Ok, I’m sorry. Please keep explaining. The top student’s knowledge is the most valuable!” 

Was that a compliment or an insult? Probably both, knowing Hyunjin.  

Jisung read through what Hyunjin had done so far, adding in corrections and even some comments. Why? He had no idea. He would only ever do that for Seungmin. As he handed the laptop back to Hyunjin, the boy smiled proudly at his work, noting that there were not as many mistakes as he thought.  

Genuinely thankful, he opened his mouth to say something.  

“Shut up and do your work.” Jisung pulled out his phone, not noticing the boys’ fond smile.   

 _This is going well,_  Seungmin thought as he watched Felix work, not creepily of course.  _Twenty minutes to go._  

“Can you help us tomorrow as well? I’m on a roll, I don’t want to forget all this stuff.” Hyunjin gestured vaguely to the books and laptop in front of him.  

“Well, we-” Seungmin began to explain that they already had plans when Felix grabbed his hand.  

“Thank you for helping us. Really.” He smiled so sweetly that the boy whose hand he was holding forgot his words.  

The eldest of them batted his eyelashes playfully at Jisung, and eventually clasped his hands in front of his chest in a pleading manner. It wasn’t until he reached to said boy that he gave a reaction.  

“You better not hold my hand.” 

Hyunjin sat up at the words, looking hopeful, and the hand he was reaching out with came to Jisung’s knee. “Is that a yes?”  

Jisung, the self-proclaimed master of acting, disguised the fact that the skin-on-skin contact with Hyunjin made his heart race, and put a mildly sour look on his face.  

“And you better stop that cutesy shit or I’ll let you fail.”  

As if the one hand on his knee wasn’t enough, Hyunjin moved his other hand to Jisung’s forearm, leaning a bit closer. A mischievous smile made its’ way onto his face.  

“You think I was being cute?”  

 _Damn you Hwang_ _Hyunjin_ _and your_ _way too soft hands,_ he cursed to himself. Defeated, he slumped in his chair after smacking Hyunjin’s hands away.  

Seungmin gave him a slightly dazed look as the other two moved their attention back to their project, and though he had not said anything, Jisung agreed.  

Whatever. His locker could be messy for one more day.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really just post a chapter and disappear for a month huh
> 
> so what do you think so far? i think it's moving a bit too slowly.. time to pick up the pace ;)
> 
> shoutout to hyunsung for revealing they used to hate each other's guts.. really fuels me to write this lmaooo


End file.
